The Denver Water Board has an exceptional opening to take a big leap forward with water conservation.

The board is considering a new water-rate structure to both encourage conservation and provide additional revenue to Denver Water, the state’s largest water supplier. As an environmental law and policy advocate who has worked extensively with Denver Water on a host of conservation issues, I salute the board for having such a strong interest and deep understanding of the issue.

But I also want to encourage the board to be visionary, so that its policies reward citizens who have already reduced their water use while encouraging continued conservation and generating the revenue the department needs.

Just a year ago, the Denver Water board evaluated several options for a new rate structure. Unfortunately, but for reasons we understand, they took only a baby step. They increased rates only slightly for most customers, and a bit more for just the top 3 percent to 5 percent of customers. As a result, they failed to either send a signal on conservation or raise all the revenue they needed.

Since the severe drought of 2002, Denver Water has begun to develop a more robust conservation program and has, as a result, seen a significant reduction in water use. But as water use declined, so have revenues. Now, Denver Water has to find a way to shore up its finances while also rewarding and encouraging conservation.

The good news is that combination can be achieved. Denver Water can join many other cities on the Front Range that have raised water rates most for those who use the most water, especially during “peak” use in summer months. Those who use a moderate amount of water would see only a small rate increase to help provide Denver Water with the revenue it needs. Giving a smaller rate increase to those who use water wisely will continue to encourage conservation and not penalize them for saving water.

The effect of a progressive rate structure is that it provides what Commissioner Penfield Tate refers to as a “lifeline” low price for essential, indoor uses all year long.

A new, progressive water rate structure – one that inclines steeply, charging more for water as use increases – should be an essential piece of Denver Water’s overall water-conservation program. Indeed, the recently proposed 10-year conservation plan assumes at least 7,000 acre-feet (almost 2.3 billions gallons) of water will be saved annually through conservation incentives embedded in the water rate structure.

This is a major part of the total water conservation savings projected between now and 2016. Perhaps most important, revenues raised by a new rate structure could help provide funding to implement many other conservation programs proposed. Notably, it could help provide assistance to larger water users in both the residential and commercial sectors to improve their efficiency, thereby cutting down on the strain they place on Denver Water.

Denver Water invites public comment on the proposed 2007 water rates either by attending the Water Board’s meeting Sept. 27 at 9:15 a.m. or via e-mail to dbwc@denverwater.org. Information on rate proposals is available at www.denverwater.org.

Denver Water has strong and visionary leadership. That is why this policy makes so much sense. This strategy would delay or perhaps even avoid the need to build a large and expensive new dam, reduce treatment costs, hold down water bills and promote a good-neighbor policy among Coloradans on both sides of the Continental Divide. It would also send a signal to consumers about the real value of water, appropriately reward those who reduce their water use, shift the burden to those relative few water users who are creating the most pressure for new supplies, save money in the long run and protect the environment. It’s a winner on all fronts.

Denver Water’s next step should be and can be bold and visionary.

Bart Miller is water program director at Western Resource Advocates, a regional non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the interior West’s land, air and water.

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